Two candidates are running for 47th District state representative, a two-year term representing the city Howell and townships of Conway, Cohoctah, Deerfield, Tyrone, Hartland, Oceola, Howell, Handy, Iosco, Marion and Unadilla. Livingston Daily asked candidates to respond to a questionnaire about key issues in the district. Candidates include Democrat Colleen Turk and Republican incumbent Hank Vaupel.

Q: What are the top two priorities you will pursue if elected and why?

COLLEEN TURK, DEMOCRAT: My top priority is transparency in government. Citizens need to know what’s going on so they can hold elected officials accountable, but they’re often given only brief statements with no real, measurable outcomes from elected officials. I’d like to serve constituents with me as an advisor and them as the CEO – I’ll tell them the nuts and bolts of the most important issues (good, bad, and ugly - not just the ones they’ll agree with), what the possible solutions are, and why I’m recommending certain solutions. My calendar will be public and the agenda of meetings – with lobbyists or fellow party members – will be shared. My second priority is restoring public education. High-quality education drives future employment prospects for our next generation and attracts new business and residents. When Amazon passed us by for their next HQ, our low student achievement scores as a reflection of prospective employees played a role in that decision.

HANK VAUPEL, REPUBLICAN: My priorities are Affordable, Accessible Healthcare including Mental Health Care and addressing the Substance Abuse epidemic. Healthcare accounts for over 25% of every dollar spent in the US. I have introduced bills to make prescription drug pricing more transparent and have worked to eliminate fraud in health care. As Co Chair of the House CARES Mental Health Taskforce I have worked to make mental health treatment accessible and available to those that need it. As Chair of the House Health Policy Committee I have worked to pass legislation to reduce the availability of opioids and raise awareness to addiction as a disease.

Q: What more needs to be done to improve Michigan’s roads? Please address whether you would pursue additional funding through taxes or fees, or whether you would redirect money from elsewhere in the state’s budget and if so, where.

TURK: We need to assess whether the foundation of the ground below the road is secure – it does us no good to spend money laying asphalt if a crumbling foundation is going to break down the road anyway. We need to do is examine the feasibility of using the high-performance concrete developed by the University of Michigan which, though more expensive to use, is expected to last significantly longer than the concrete we currently use. If we’re spending our dollars on roads, we should make sure it lasts. I’d love to say we can do this without costing you anything, but I won’t mislead anyone just to win. We could raise $2 billion by adding a penny to our sales tax and 10 cents to the fuel tax; both of which are estimated to cost a family of four $166/year. When we start attracting new residents back to the state, that can be reduced.

VAUPEL: Over the past 3 years more funding for roads has been appropriated. Accountability in how money is spent on roads is needed. Materials used, results of work and enforcement of warranties are among the many areas that need to be addressed.

Q: What should Michigan do to improve the quality of its public schools? Explain the reasoning behind your answer.

TURK: We need to increase real dollars per pupil for public school students. Many current representatives will say we’re giving more money to public schools than we used to and, on the surface, they’re telling the truth. But when you dig into the details, you’ll learn that Michigan has drastically changed what expenses we spend school funding dollars on. The general fund/general purpose funds (GF/GP) in the Michigan budget used to cover a lot of school expenses. In the last fiscal year, though, the state used $854 million dollars on expenses that used to be covered by those GF/GP funds. In the next fiscal year, that amount that used to be covered elsewhere will be over $1 billion. Some will tell you our per pupil funding is now over $6,000 per pupil, but when we look at real dollars per pupil our funding is only $4,402 per pupil. More info available on this issue on my website.

VAUPEL: Michigan has many great educators. Schools need more ability to craft educational plans on a local level. This year more money was appropriated than ever before. We need less superfluous testing and more education time. There must be more options for education in the trades. We must fund educators and require accountability of results.

Q: Should the state do more to regulate charter schools? Why or why not?

TURK: Yes, Michigan should do more to regulate charter schools. Currently, Michigan has 45 charter school authorizers whereas many other states only have one. What this means in Michigan is if a charter school is performing poorly and at risk of losing its authorization, it can essentially shop around at 44 other authorizers to see if they’ll keep the school open. We also should reinstate the cap on the number of charter schools so that our state doesn’t give public funds to more schools than our population supports.

VAUPEL: Did not respond

Q: What committee assignments will you seek if elected and why do you hope to serve on those committees?

TURK: Health Committee: much of my professional background and connections are in the healthcare field so I think my expertise would be of use when examining mental health, the opioid crisis, and reducing the cost of healthcare. Natural Resources Committee: I’m appalled at the current state of our water quality. Furthermore, I find it absolutely shameful that current elected officials created a panel to allow industry to override environmental regulations – and that panel can contain out-of-state lobbyists who can immediately go work for the businesses on which they consider in the panel. I want to be in a position to get rid of that panel and instead strengthen the Department of Environmental Quality. Education Reform: public schools need strong advocates on this committee and as a proud Howell High graduate, I will be that advocate. Communications Committee: maximizing Michigan’s internet capabilities will allow us to start taking advantage of the increase in telecommuting and could revitalize lower, cost-of-living small towns if residents are able to consider moving to more rural areas – they need high-speed internet to do that.

VAUPEL: Did not respond

Q: Do you support the proposal to legalize recreational marijuana in Michigan? Please explain why or why not.

TURK: Yes, I support the proposal to legalize recreational marijuana in Michigan because I support decriminalization of marijuana. I think processing arrests for marijuana use is a waste of law enforcement hours. I am concerned about smoking marijuana and driving as I am about drinking alcohol and driving, so if passed it’s likely we’ll need to review drunk driving laws in Michigan and ensure that driving under the influence of marijuana is an enforceable offense.

VAUPEL: The ballot proposal to legalize recreational marijuana is a terrible proposal. This proposal will lead to many unintended consequences.

Q: Do you support the proposal to change the way Michigan redraws its legislative and congressional district boundaries? Please explain your reasons.

TURK: Yes. Drawing district lines to benefit a single party and undermine the popular vote is wrong regardless of the party that benefits (see Maryland for an example where Democrats, in my opinion, shamefully created gerrymandered districts). Based on the results of 2014 and 2016 elections in Michigan, votes for Democrats and Republicans were pretty even and yet the proportion of seats held by Republicans compared to Democrats are not even at all. Now, some will say that allowing a citizens committee to create the districts is imperfect because what if someone lies about their party affiliation? Certainly that’s possible, but the entire process will be conducted in public, so we should be able to see if that’s going on. The alternative, continuing to do business behind closed doors with zero public oversight, runs counter to the public’s desire for transparency in government. We want government that can be scrutinized by the public, not hidden from it.

VAUPEL: I support fairly drawn districts. I do not support this ballot initiative as it will not insure fairly drawn districts.

Q: Suicide prevention education for school staff is not mandatory in Michigan. Will you support an effort in by the state Legislature to change this? Please explain your answer

TURK: While I support making suicide prevention education mandatory for teachers and support staff, I would be cautious that this training is not seen as a replacement for qualified mental health professionals in schools, of which we are sorely lacking (The Michigan Assoc. of School Psychologists states that the ratio of mental health professionals to students are “inappropriately high” and “far exceed the recommendations provided by their respective professional organizations). Sandy Hook Promise offers an excellent suicide prevention program with up to 100% covered free of cost to schools and I think we should consider partnering with a program like that to reduce additional costs to the state. A bonus with their training is that they include middle- and high-school students in the training since peers often miss warning signs as well. Randomized controlled studies have shown that their program reduced suicide attempts by 40-64%.

VAUPEL: I strongly support education in recognizing mental health issues for our educators. Recently legislation passed the House that would allow teachers to get credits for education in mental health problem recognition. We must work to recognize and treat those that need help.

Q: Do you support expanding FOIA laws in Michigan to a. the governor’s office? and b. to the Legislature? And will you support broadening the law to make more public records accessible to the public? Please explain your answers.

TURK: Yes, I support expanding FOIA access to the governor’s office and the Legislature immediately. Fees should continue to be charged at current levels to minimize frivolous requests.

VAUPEL: I support increased transparency in government. Much of the work in legislative offices relates to issues of constituents. Confidentiality of personal constituent information should be respected. Public information should be available through FOIA.

Q: Are you current on all alimony, child support and state and local tax obligations? If not, please explain.

TURK: I am lucky enough that my husband and I have stayed married these past 12 years and supported our children together. We are current in our state and local tax obligations.

VAUPEL: I am current on all local and state tax obligations. I have never been divorced and owe no alimony or child support.

About Colleen Turk

Age: 37

Hometown: Howell

Profession: Systems Analyst at Sparrow Health

Education: Master’s in Nonprofit Administration – University of Notre Dame; Bachelor of Arts in Political Science & German – University of Michigan (Ann Arbor)

Prior elected experience: I am new to the elected scene as an adult. My last elected experience was being President of Howell High School Student Council quite some time ago – happy to say I was re-elected the second year! My service was preceded by being Vice President of the Student Council as a sophomore. I also was elected to serve on the Site-Based Decision-Making Committee as well where I was introduced to the joys of Robert’s Rules of Order.